The invention relates to the preparation of printing plates for mounting onto a printing press and particularly to the transport and automatic handling of the printing plates after recording an image onto the printing plates by a recording device.
Pre-press devices, e.g. imagestters and platesetters record images onto printing plates according to image information provided by electronic image files. Electronic image files may be prepared and processed by a front-end computer system, such as a server or workstation, operated by a pre-press operator. A printing job may include one printing plate having a single image recorded thereon or the printing job may include a plurality of related printing plates each having a different image or a different portion of the printing job recorded thereon. For example, when printing a color reproduction of a color original image, a separate printing plate may be required for separately printing each color of the original image.
More recently, recording devices have become automated. An automatic plate loading system may be interconnected with the recording device to provide access to various plate types automatically. For example, plates with different length and width dimensions for accommodating different size images and plates of different thickness"", for accommodating different printing reproduction requirements may be stored in an automated plate handler. Accordingly, a plate type required by the printing job might be selected at the front-end and automatically loaded by the automated plate handler into the recording device for recording the image onto the selected plate type. An electronic designation signal designating the plate type may therefore be included within or provided in addition to the electronic image file sent from the front-end to the recording device.
Most printing plates require further processing after an image is recorded onto the printing plate by the image recording device. For example, when the recording media includes a photochemical image-recording layer, further processing may comprise a chemical-developing step. A chemical developer or plate processor may also perform other finishing steps such as washing and drying. On-line chemical developers attached directly onto the output end of the image recording device automatically receive plates from the image recording device and transport the plates through the chemical developer while performing the processing steps automatically. The plates exit the chemical developer onto a tray for storage until needed. More recently, other plate types having different image layers and requiring different after imaging processing steps have been made available. These plate types may require a different plate processing device for receiving the plates after imaging by a recording device.
One example of a prior art pre-press system is shown in FIG. 1. A computer-to-plate imaging system 10 includes a front-end server 12, a raster image processor 14, and a platesetter recording device 16. Printing jobs in the form of electronic image files are prepared at the front-end server 12 and communicated to a raster image processor (RIP) 14. RIP 14 formats the electronic image files for recording by the recording device 16 and communicated rasterized electronic image files thereto. The RIP 14 may be incorporated within the front-end 12.
Platesetter 16 comprises an electronic controller 30 for receiving electronic image files from the RIP 14 or front-end 12 and for coordinating the operation of the platesetter 16 and a plate recording device 20 for recording an image onto a plate. The recording device may be hand loaded with printing plates or automatically fed by an automatic plate manager 18. Plate manager 18 stores a plurality of printing plates of one or more plate types in one or more plate storage cassettes 24. According to the present example of the prior art plates a single plate is selected from the access position by a plate transport device 28 from a cassette 24 to the recording device 20. The platesetter 16 may also include an automated plate processor 22 for receiving the imaged plates from the recording device 20 and chemically or otherwise processing the plates to further enhance the recorded image. The prior art example of FIG. 1, is sold by Agfa Corporation of Wilmington, Mass. USA, under the trade name GALILEO. The plates handled by the prior art example range in size from about 450xc3x97368 mm, (17.72xc3x9714.5 in.) up to about 1130xc3x97820 mm (44.5xc3x9732.29 in.).